Reliquary guardian figure
Reliquary guardian figure (bieri), Fang, Gabon Essay Chapter 34
This stylized human figure has the body of an infant and the muscularity of an adult, a combination of traits suggesting the cycle of life. The sculptor designed them to sit on the edge of cylindrical bark boxes of ancestral bones, ensuring that no harm would befall the ancestral spirits. It’s made out of wood and dates back to late 19th century. This figure is symmetrical that greatly emphasize the head, and they feature a rhythmic buildup of forms that suggest contained power. This figure looks like its sitting down and has a knife on the right hand but no left hand. It’s sort of like a rectangular shape and upright. Carved figures that reflect African religious views on the cycle of life and death, and specifically the link between the living and the dead, form the heart of the Gussman collection. In Gabon and adjoining regions in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, the spiritual connection between the living and the dead takes physical form through reliquaries (containers for the preserved pieces of skull and bones) that represent important ancestors, such as the founders of extended families and villages, or women who have borne many children. The living family not only honors the dead with ceremonies and gifts, but through prayer and ritual they also consult the deceased on significant matters, such as warfare, infertility, and preventing illness. Reliquary guardian figures protect the irreplaceable relics that link the living to the dead. Most of the peoples in the region--the Fang, Kota, Hongwe, Shamaye, Obamba, Tsogo, and Vuvi--placed the figures atop bark boxes or baskets holding the relics. The Mbete placed the relics inside the torso of the figure
This stylized human figure has the body of an infant and the muscularity of an adult, a combination of traits suggesting the cycle of life. The sculptor designed them to sit on the edge of cylindrical bark boxes of ancestral bones, ensuring that no harm would befall the ancestral spirits. It’s made out of wood and dates back to late 19th century. This figure is symmetrical that greatly emphasize the head, and they feature a rhythmic buildup of forms that suggest contained power. This figure looks like its sitting down and has a knife on the right hand but no left hand. It’s sort of like a rectangular shape and upright. Carved figures that reflect African religious views on the cycle of life and death, and specifically the link between the living and the dead, form the heart of the Gussman collection. In Gabon and adjoining regions in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, the spiritual connection between the living and the dead takes physical form through reliquaries (containers for the preserved pieces of skull and bones) that represent important ancestors, such as the founders of extended families and villages, or women who have borne many children. The living family not only honors the dead with ceremonies and gifts, but through prayer and ritual they also consult the deceased on significant matters, such as warfare, infertility, and preventing illness. Reliquary guardian figures protect the irreplaceable relics that link the living to the dead. Most of the peoples in the region--the Fang, Kota, Hongwe, Shamaye, Obamba, Tsogo, and Vuvi--placed the figures atop bark boxes or baskets holding the relics. The Mbete placed the relics inside the torso of the figure